The next morning, Sunday, 20th
February, we resumed our journey through Bargo at the usual hour.

The day was rather sultry, although
the sun only poured forth his effulgence at intervals.

Fortunately, however, the road for
many miles was a remarkably good one.

We passed over a hard gravelly
country, thickly covered with iron and stringy bark, and a great variety
of under wood.

It reminded us very forcibly of the
kind of country we had passed over between Sydney and Liverpool.

Although rich patches were to be
met with here and there, we did not on the whole consider the land
adapted to agricultural purposes.

Indeed we found it as a general
rule, that where the iron and stringy bark abounded to any great extent,
the land for the most part was poor and thinly grassed, the surface
being hard clay mixed with gravel or sand.

About mid-day we reached Bargo Inn,
and being rather fatigued we availed ourselves of the opportunity
to stop and dine.

The place has a neat cottage-like
appearance, and is admirably provided in the way of accommodation.

Having rested an hour here, we
proceeded on our journey and camped in the evening at a place
called Natti on the banks of a small stream, our
distance from Sydney being then 71 miles.

Close by was a large and tolerably
well-built house, which we were told had once been used as an hotel, but which was now used by Mr. Robert
Campbell, M.L.C. as a country residence.

Soon after camping this gentleman paid
us a visit, and as one of our party was still very
ill with lumbago or rheumatism, he kindly furnished us with a bottle of
ointment, which proved of considerable service in alleviating the complaint.

The sky was very cloudy during the
whole of the afternoon, and in the evening we had a few light
showers of rain, which compelled us for the first time to erect our
tent.

This had to be done after dark,
in consequence of the lateness of the hour at which we camped.

Had we been even so disposed, it
would have been impossible to camp earlier, owing to there being no
water within a convenient distance.

Some of the land about here had the
appearance of having been once under cultivation, but it was then
over-grown, the young trees or saplings and the place altogether had
something of the air of a deserted village.

The next morning was ushered in by a
cool southerly wind, which had a very grateful influence after the heat
of the previous day.

The sky was cloudy, but no rain
fell and the travelling on the whole was rather pleasant.

The road, however, was very bad, and in
some places, especially where it was sandy or rocky, a thing which not
unfrequently occurred.

The scenery although by no means romantic,
was more diversified than that which we passed the previous day and the
soil was richer and more adapted to agricultural purposes.

We could not help noticing, however,
what we had often noticed before - the almost total absence of
cultivation.

Abundance of available land was
everywhere to be met with, but, with the exception of supporting sheep
and cattle, it had never been devoted to the uses of mankind.

Occasionally a neat little farm opened
upon the view, but the ruined hut, and fields covered with weeds,
showed that for two or three seasons at least it had failed to
produce its quota of human food.

Remembering that we were bound for the
diggings ourselves, we could well appreciate the cause of this general
desertion and dilapidation.

In a few hours the somewhat novel and
neat little town of Berrima burst upon our view; strange to say,
the most imposing, if not the most ornamental building in it, is a brick
gaol of considerable size.

It is situated in the centre of
the town, and has a red glaring appearance which cannot fail to attract
notice.

It is the fruit of the old penal
times, and was constructed for the convenience of the Assizes, which
were formerly held at Berrima, but which have long since been removed to
Goulburn.

It is therefore useless, as a gaol
"Othello's occupation's gone," and in passing through the town,
I could not help thinking that, with the Court House, it would make a
very good establishment for a National school.

Some of the other buildings are
far from inferior, especially two or three of the hotels.

The town altogether is very well situated,
and the streets are laid out with something like regularity.

The Berrima river, which in a
semi-circular form encloses nearly one-half the town, affords an
abundant and permanent supply of excellent fresh water.

At the time I speak of, there was a
good deal of business being transacted in consequence of the number
of diggers who were passing to and fro. All kinds of stores were
exorbitantly high particularly maize and oats which we could hardly
procure at any price.

Having stopped an hour at Berrima, we resumed
our journey through a country which, for the first three or four miles,
was any but picturesque.

As we progressed however the scenery
changed, and in the course of the afternoon we passed some fine agricultural
land, but as usual there was very little of it under cultivation.

This may be owing to the scarcity of water
along this part of the road, - a fact to which I can bear practical
testimony.

We had to travel until near nine
o'clock at night before we could meet with sufficient water to enable us
to camp.

And this was at a wild dreary
looking place called Black Bob's Creek, in every respect unsuitable for
camping were it not for the water.

To add to the unpleasantness of
our situation, a person, whom we afterwards found was a National
Schoolmaster, came up and informed us that we could not be allowed to
put our horse on any part of the adjacent ground.

He told us that the property was under
his management, and that if we attempted to trespass he would impound
the horse.

In vain did we plead fatigue and point
out the inconvenience of having to travel further in the dark.

He was inexorable, and, being
driven to desperation, we at length defied him to do his best, and
informed him boldly that it was our intention to remain whatever the consequences
might be.

We were also informed that the
property belonged to a person locally known by the appellation of the
"Blocker," and who was described to us as a most formidable character.